Fabric conduit



V. C. GILPIN AND J. E. MCAULIFFE.

FABRIC CONDUIT.

APPLICAUON mu) APR=13, 191av Patented June 22, 1920.

INVENTOR v C Gi/p/n- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR C. GILPIN AND JOHN E. MOAULIFFE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FABRIC CONDUIT.

uses. flied April 13',

, lyn, in the county of Kings and State of New k, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fabric Conduits, of which the following is a s ecification.

This invention re ates to conduits for electric wires and has particular reference to that class of conduits which are composed of a tubular fabric of textile material, the same being impregnated with heat resistingwater-proof material of some well known character that will not materially interfere with the flexibility of the conduit, permitting the same to be bent and otherwise mani ulated to suit given requirements.

he object of the invention is to provide a knitted conduit in which use may be made of one or any suitable number of strands of am, inter-looping the yarn so that loops with their bread bights will all be arranged upon the exterior of the conduit, while upon the interior thereof will be produced longitudinally extending rib like portions and longitudinal grooves between the rib portions so that the inside of the conduit will be of a smooth nature to permit the line wires to be fed therethrough without internuption.

We further provide made up of interlooped portions in which broad bights of said loops will be arranged upon the outside of the conduit and in circular rows side by side, with the loops of one row extending in an opposite direction to the loops of the next two adjacent rows so that the conduit will be of a highly flexible character capable of being curved in any desired direction without fear of the walls collapsing and at the same time giving to the exterior of the conduit an arrangement which will afford excellent lodgment for an impregnating material or substance.

in practice. we find that a fabric constructed as described above possesses a relatively thick and heavy wall structure which, when properly produced, may be made sufficiently open a knitted conduit and porous to permit thorough. impregnation with water-proof and moisture repellent material in an easy and convenient and inexpensive manner. hen impregnated, the fabric is rendered highly flexible. may be bent. twisted and otherwise manipulated without cracking, kinking, col- Speciflcation of Letters Patent.

in in the accompanying drawing 7 use. It will be noted by Patented June 22,1920.

191a. Serial No. 228,487.

lapsing or otherwise suffering injury that Wlll interfere with the perfect utility thereof. These qualities are believed to be due not alone to the fact that the tubular fabric used in carrying out the invention possesses a heavy body, peculiar manner of looping the yarn to produce interior longitudinal ribs and grooves respectively and exterior rows of loops havsubstantially inter-nested bight rtions. as been illustrated a simple and preferred embodiment of the invention, it being, however, understood, in order that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited but that changes, alterations, and modifications within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawing,

Figure 1, is a view in side elevation of a piece of tubular textile fabric used in carrying out -the present invention, the same being shown on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 2, is a transverse section therethrough taken on line 2-2, in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3, is a similar view illustrating the gubular fabric impregnated to form a conuit.

' Fig. 4', is a side view of the fabric impre nated to form the conduit.

orresponding parts in the several views of the drawing are denoted by like characters of reference.

The tubular fabric shown at A, is formed by a process of knitting from a single piece of yarn as shown at 15, or if desired, several strands of garn may be used, the fabric being compose of interengaging or intermeshing loops 16. Tubes of proper dimensions for general use may be produced havingnine loops in circumferential series, but the number of loops in each circumferential series may be greatly varied, in fact indefinitely so, within the scope of the present invention. By using yarn of sufficient thickness, a body of tubular fabric will be given a wall of ample thickness and by knitting the fabric more or less closely, the porosity of the wall portion may be gaged and regulated, rendering the same more or less absorbent and enabling it to be thoroughly impregnated with heat resisting and moisture repellent materials of various consistencies such as it may be found desirable to reference to Figs.

but also in a measure to the ormation of t e fabric may be re arded as extendin longitudinally"throug out the length 0 the conduit so that the interior of said conduit will be of asmooth nature. No obstructing surfaces will be presented on the inside of the conduit throughthis described formation and :the longitudinalextending grooves 18, and the ribs 17, act as guiding surfaces over which the feed wires may be freely passed during the feeding or inserting of the same through the conduit. i i

The broad bights 19, of thementioned loops 16, are all arranged exteriorly of the conduit and in substantially circular rows with those of one row nested with'those ,0 the next two rows but protesting in an opposits direction therefrom as 'shown in Fig. 1. Throu h this arrangement thesm'all interstices ietween the'respective bightsf of said Ioops'afi'ord excellent lodgment for the impregnating material or substance and the latter, when applied will combine with the textile fabric to form a substantially nhomoneous structure which should be oi an insulating character as. will be recognized by reference to F i 3 and 4,;wherethe impre ated tubular fabric has been designated 'y'B. V i 7 When an impregnated tube hearing-Johan acteristics hereinsho wn and described is bent or twisted, the comparative locseness of the textile fabric taken in connection withthe thickness of the wall portion .will constitute a safeguard against kinkin or collapsin It is said that the freedom Pom danger o kinkin or collapsing is also: in a measure due to tfie interiorrib and groove construction, the same giving longitudinal rigidity to the structure while permitting the same to be flexed very readily.

The features which we desiremost particularly to emphasize are the exterior arrangement of the bights of the loops so as to give the maximum purchasing surface to the impregnating substance or material; arrang ing the loops in circular series, disposing the series side by side and causing the bights of one series to be rojccted in an opposite direction to, the blghts of the next two series and so on throughout in the structural formation of the conduit, and then arranging the respective interlooped portions of the fabric so that well defined longitudinal.

grooves and ribs respectively are formed indom to the ihs'rtion ofthe line wires there- I thrgugh. Were the arrangement the reverse oftliatshown and described, many obstructions would be present against the passage of the line-wires and the conduitg eommere cia would not heas valuable and practical.

hat is claimed'asnew is:

1. A tubular knitted. conduitcharactcr ized by exterior ,loop jhights, with the bights in. one row. about the conduit extending -iin an pp si d ect n at e slits in the next ad'acent rows. to r ender the conduit, highly exible,.and also characterized by in: terior nd ne b-li e p ses wi h grooves between rib-like ortions at i3 5 inner side of the conduit; said ribr-liltep or t ina ranse n Pa n ai pai s being straddled bysome of said loops. I'

2. Asancw art cle of manufacture a fab ric singlewalled conduit characterized exterior, annular. rows ,of loop bights, wit the bights in one row aboutthe conduit extending in i an opposite directjionfto 'the bights in thcnext adjacentrcws tofrender the conduit .highlflfiexible and proi'idelradi terior annular rows of loop bights, with the .bights inone row about the conduit xtending in aniopposite ;direction to the big'lits in the'nextua race Ws. to render the con- .duit highly flexible provideradially extending interstices hetiyeeu all of said loops, said fabric ,also characterized by interior longitudinal rib-like fpo'rtions vwith longitudinal. grooves beti wt said rib-like portions at the inner sidefof the conduit so as to strengthen the conduit against lateral strains applied to the said exterior-loop bights and also presenting a clear non-interrupted racewa thronghout the length of the conduit, an a coatm substance impregnating the fabric and filling the said interstices between said loops.

4. As a newy article of manufacture, a tubular knitted conduit having staggered interstices on-theexterior and longitudinal ribs on the interior reducing longitudinal grooves, said interstices being filled with a stiffening and finishing compound.

5. s a new article of manufacture. a tubular knitted conduit characterized by relatively deep external pockets or interstirfcs, and internal contacting ribs forming ference and acting an hrnr'cs against vx trriml braces against external pressure. pressure.

6. As u. new article of manufacture, a. In l'estin'mny whuronl' we allix rmr sign tubular knitted conduit characterized by tures. 5 substantially parallel internal ribs contact ing with each other throughout the circum- V'ICTUR (HIJP IN. JOHN E. MQAULI FI E. 

